The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-02-24

Joseph had come to bury his father ia
cob, bringing with him many of the ser
wants of Pharaoh, and a good company.
Jacob had requested that.his body should
be buried in the burial place before
Mamre. where Abraham and Sarah, and
Isaac and Rebekah, were buried. This
was accordingly done, and after this last
sad duty of earth had been performed, the
brothers of Joseph became grieved lest
they still rested under the displeasure of
their brother Joseph, whom they had
wronged. Therefore the brothers went
to Joseph and fell down before his face.
and prayed him to forgive them any evil
thing they might have done concerning
him. The answer of Joseph was in the
asking of a question, "am in the place
of God?" So they were assured of the
forgiveness of their brother, and Joseph
passed down his grave, alta good old age,
beloved by all.
The language of the first part of the
text brings to mind a common frailty
which is entirely too common, and as un-
charitable, ,ungenerous,a and dangerous, as it
is common. Brought down to its simple
meaning, it meant jealousy, or envy. Jo-
seph had long been hated by his brothers,
because Joseph was especially favored by
his father, Israel. This envy ranked in
the bosom of these brethren until it be-
came unbearable, and they determined to
permit it to find expression in the laying
of violent hands upon the young favorite.
The first scheme wasFto place him in
pit, and lie about him-thus committing
the two sins in which Satan specially re-
joices. This however did not seem to sat-
isfy them, and while debating what to do
with the MISUNDERSTANDING brother,
how they might work still greater wrong
to him, a caravan of Ishmaelitish traders
came along, and the brother was sold to
them as a servant. Not a shadow of
wrong upon the part of Joseph, not AN
evil thought concerning his brethren. and
as innocent of any wrong-doing toward
them as it was possible for any man to
be. Behold the short-sightedness of sin!
These poor, deluded brothers evidently
thought that by putting Joseph out of the
way, there would be no more annoyance
upon his part or upon his account. They
could see the present convenience, but the
future possibility was far beyond the
range of their narrow vision. And thus
it must ever be with sin, and sinners.
The spiritual condition of things, the
great readiness and willingness of the
Heavenly Father to right the wrongs Of
his children. and punish the evils of those
who err on the side of evil, could not
force upon the minds Of these erring
boys-nor can it upon the minds of sin
ners now. almost as rule-the dangerous
steps they were taking. Do you feel a,
spirit of envy, or in other words, hatred
| toward Your brother, or friend? We'll,
perhaps it would be an easy thing for you
to break him down. AT least, you could
drive him from the community, or MUIR
der him. In the rapidly spreading flame
| of hatred there is no hope Of the faintest
ray of reason breaking into your thoughts,
and making the suggestion of the posi-
bility of evil on your part. AS charge
after charge against the accused one
whom you are pleased to call your enemy
is cleared up, leaving that character as
bright and innocent as the light of the
| morning sun, you renew the charge, and
only seek fresh accusations, and plunge
deeper into evil thoughts and sinful con-
duct. And this kind of accusation and
unjust persecution is going on every day,
as relentlessly on the part of the accusers
as was, s,the hatred of Joseph's brothers
This grievous sin reaches into all grades
of society, and obtains among all classes
| of people. Once in while poor, simple
| hearted Christian brother feels that he
may possibly have given some slight Of
fense, unintentional though it was, to his
fellow, and in an humble Christian spirit
goes to that brother in Israel and humbly
seeks pardon for the mistake. The one
who has been confessedly wronged turns
upon his heel with all of the scorn and
contempt that can be crowded into a
glance made devilish by sin. What can
| that conduct mean? you ask. 1t means
simply that the person so resenting the
offer of reconciliation, and so scorning the
humble petition for pardon, is filled as
full of Satan as the capacity of his hide
will permit. And when a poor, weak,
sinful mortal closes the doors of pardon,
nothing can be more absolutely certain
than that the doors of Heaven are closed
against him. Justice, righteousness,
could demand nothing else, nor would it
be reasonable to expect any other results
from our unchristianlike conduct. If
your brother has greater talents than you
possess, it is not his fault, and though
he may be brighter and more popular in
some respects, your chances of reward
are as great as his. One who hateth his
brother is regarded asa very grievous
sinner, at the court of Heaven.
AS to the result of mans hatred of his
brother, the language of Joseph to his
brother teaches us that God sometimes
makes good results follow desperate sins.
Though we should be grievously wronged'
there will certainly come time when all
things shall be made right, and the perse-
cution to which we are sometimes sub
jected will result in the glory of God, and
the purifying and Strengthening of the
suffering soul. The whole history of the
human race is full of the idea of sacrifice,
as condition of success. Joseph's sacri-
flee, through the hatred Of his kinsmen
was the means of giving life to much
people" The sufferings of one were for
the good of the many. The wickedness
of few wrought the salvation of null
titude. This certainly teaches us two
things very plainly-that God can and
does care for his children, and that he can
bring good results even out of the most
aggravated cases of human wickedness
The infinite power shines through it all,
and the utter dependence of poor, weak
humanity upon higher power is clearly
demonstrated in such cases as the one we
are speaking of. We heard of a young
man, short time ago, who claimed that
he could not readily believe anything that